Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance spoke about the border and the economy and criticized Democrat Kamala Harris in a short speech in Tucson on Wednesday.
Vance gave his remarks to about 500 people from a stage beneath the waving flags of the U.S., AZ and NASCAR at the Tucson Speedway racetrack.
By the time he took the stage, it was in the mid-90s and some people had started to make paper fans or move to scraps of shade on the outskirts of the audience area.
Vance cut his typical 30-minute remarks to 20 minutes because of the heat, saying “I’m from Ohio. I’m not used to this.”
He may have made an Arizona faux pas when he criticized a longtime local joke: “It’s a dry heat.”
He was talking to someone in Scottsdale on a 115-degree day when that person said, “It’s a dry heat… And I thought, ‘you must be a Kamala Harris fan,’” Vance said. The line didn’t get a laugh.
But he got cheers when he saluted the military and paused his speech as several noisy fighter jets flew overhead. And he got cheers for his quick comparisons between the candidates.
“If you want to pay higher taxes, vote for Kamala Harris. If you want lower taxes, vote for Donald J. Trump. If you want to keep on with the open border and the flood of fentanyl, you know to vote for Kamala Harris. If you want to close down that border and deport illegal aliens, vote for Donald J. Trump. If you want to ship American manufacturing jobs off to China, you know who to vote for. But if you want to keep American jobs for American workers, vote for Donald J. Trump.”
Vance asked everyone in the audience to vote early and take their friends and families to vote too.
Arizona is a swing state that will help decide the outcome of the presidential election. The Cook Political Report, one of the top political analysts, labeled Arizona a “toss up,” along with Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Jaime Diaz brought his wife, Maria, and sons ages 16, 11 and 4 to hear Vance speak at the speedway.
Diaz said he has always loved politics — he was the kind of kid who asked for presidential history books, not video games — and he wanted to share this interest with his boys.
Vance gave a good speech, he said, bringing up a variety of issues so there was something for everyone.
Diaz hopes the experience forms a memory for the kids, so they remember “they have their choice and to vote for whoever they want. … I want everyone to have that freedom to speak and freedom to vote for whoever they like,” he said. “Obviously we want our kids to grow up to be good persons, in general, but ultimately we want them to be on the conservative side.”
Vance’s border comments
Regarding the border, Vance said Tucson has perhaps been affected more than any other city.
“Kamala Harris came into office as the border czar, bragging that she was going to undo Donald Trump’s border policies, she did exactly that, and now Tucson is facing a historic border crisis and a historic increase in crime, in fentanyl, in drug trafficking and sex trafficking,” Vance told the crowd.
Harris is responsible for the problems, he said, and it’s audacious that she has made comments about making the world more secure on Day 1 of her administration.
“Day 1 was 1,400 days ago. What the hell have you been doing that whole time? Stop talking about fixing these problems and start actually doing something,” Vance said.
According to the Tucson Police Department, violent crime in the city was down 13% last year compared to 2022, and 9% lower than the five-year average in the city.
With few specifics in the brief remarks, Vance said a Trump administration would:
- “Close down” the border
- Deport undocumented immigrants
- Prevent fentanyl from crossing the border
- End FEMA funding for that agency’s response at the border
Local governments have relied on federal funds to help temporarily shelter and transport asylum-seekers who surrender to authorities at the border and move through Tucson, sometimes as many as 1,000 people daily.